STEPHEN RICCIO
SHAWVILLE July 15, 2020
The Shawville Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) has been given the green light to organize a season for this fall, but it will look quite different from past seasons.
Hockey Quebec released their six-phase plan on June 2, and the plan recently jumped from . . .
phase one to phase five in a week, said SMHA Treasurer and Acting-President Kerry Reasbeck in a phone interview with The Equity.
The organization has been in close discussion with the Quebec government and public health as the plan adjusts its staging depending on the state of COVID-19 in the province.
Phase five means that the number of players per team will be limited, as well as there being distancing requirements on the bench for players and coaches. According to Reasbeck, Hockey Quebec has not yet confirmed what that number of players will be.
“If it’s a five on five system, it’s basically a maximum of ten players and one goalie. Not like our other teams where we could have 15, 16 on a team. They haven’t told us yet if it’s gonna be four on four, which means you’d only be able to have eight and one [goalie]. But I’m guessing closer to September they’ll let us know.”
In terms of travel, phase five allows for about as much movement as the SMHA would normally need for any of their teams.
“Basically, we are allowed to now play in the Outaouais region, we’re not allowed to go outside of that region,” Reasbeck explained. “We can’t go to Montreal, we can’t go to Ontario.”
Reasbeck said that this does impact the girls league that competes within Hockey Outaouais, as they play in Ontario, but that she still believes they will play in some capacity.
This restriction would also impact the usual slew of tournaments that teams would go to outside of the region.
The impact of COVID-19 on league sign-ups has been felt by the SMHA this year, as Reasbeck said that it has been slower than usual.
“People are just kind of waiting to see what’s going to happen, which is making it hard for us. We’re starting to send out reminders now that we are in phase five.”
Reasbeck said that there will certainly be limitations on the amount of people allowed in the arena, but Hockey Quebec hasn’t released a number on that yet.
Hockey Quebec will release a more comprehensive framework for phase six when officials have determined that it is safe to proceed to that step.
